Worldwide, the population ageing is a reality. The concept of Active
Ageing, adopted by the World Health Organization, aims to guarantee
quality ageing and appears as a strategy to solve this demographic
challenge. The technological solutions might have a key role in the
promotion of human functioning and in the mitigation of disabilities,
particularly those resulting from the natural ageing process. This
perspective is evident in the development of Ambient Assisted Living
(AAL) solutions.
In this context, it is relevant to know about the recent developments in
AAL and discuss future trends and challenges in this area. One of the
objectives of this book is to do a systematic literature review on AAL,
not only considering the technology used, but also the health condition
that is intended to improve. For this purpose, we consider the human
functioning, in particular the conceptual model of International
Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Considering
that the ICF conceptual framework is accepted within the healthcare
domain, the use of its concepts and terminologies to promote
multidisciplinary approaches for AAL solutions development processes can
help to overcome difficulties of communication between users, careers
and technological developers.
AAL solutions must consider in their development the needs of the person
that will use AAL solutions. The development must be user-centred and
usability questions cannot be forgotten. In addition, the acceptance of
the AAL solutions is closely related to the quality of the systems, so
it is necessary to appropriately assess these solutions.
